Thanks again for all of "youse guys" help....amazing how those grips are smoooooth on the left side and sharp on the right - as a LH, he must have had his hand on them readily - I know he fired ONE shot on duty in 33 years...a warning shot from that gun....gonna get that letter......

....amazing how those grips are smoooooth on the left side and sharp on the right - as a LH, he must have had his hand on them readily -

Cops' guns often have the outside stock worn down from wearing seatbelts, banging against doorframes and walls, sitting in chairs, etc., and the wear is usually on the RH side. Your father's gun has the wear on the "wrong" side because he was a southpaw.

__________________
"Smokey, this is not 'Nam. This is bowling. There are rules... MARK IT ZERO!!" - Walter Sobchak

I recently purchased a mint condition, used S&W 41. I'm on a tight budget and can't afford the $35 S&W book. Would anyone be kind enough to look up my gun's manufacture date for me? SN UAE9xxx.

Just got back from Borders and looked at a copy of the S&W manual, 3rd edition. The only mention I saw of a serial number starting with prefix "U" was UAM, manufactured in 1997. I assume that UAE was manufactured around the same time?

Hi, could you help with a Smith and Wesson .38 special , serial number is V12xxx, dont't know much about it, just that it has wood grips and it's pretty rusted, got it to cycle, the only one I've seen like it is on the 2003 catalog on the "custom hand engraving" page, though it doesnt look that pretty.
Any help would be greatly appreciated

Many of these were altered after the war for civilian use, so things may get a bit confusing. A picture would help. "V" prefixes started in march of 1942 I think. That gun would certainly be very close to that date, April or May most likely.

Thanks for the info, here are some pics, all the serial numbers match, I don't really know about the one in the grip, as it is pretty worn, I actually found this about 3 years ago, about 2.5 miles deep in some hills, we were surveying some piplines. It was worse looking than it is now, I'm going to try and restore it. Like I said previously, It works, I've yet to fire some live ammo thru it, I still need to clean it out better inside. It was fully loaded when I found it, when I was able to open the cylinder, it had 5 Federal American Eagle .38 special +p rounds and one .357 magnum round. Do you know if it can fire both caliber cartridges?

Looks like it had been out there a while! That looks to be a US one, 4" bbl. I can see it's a .38 US model, that's good.

No, it shouldn't be able to chamber a .357 cartridge. Check the .357 hadn't been cut down to .38 length (happens). It is not safe to shoot .357 in that, or really even a lot of +p, honestly. If someone had lengthened the cylinder to .357 depth, that was reckless.

Search for threads on restoring - take the grips off and put it in a sealed jar/bucket of kerosene or diesel for a few days or week. That should free up lots of junk and let you get started. If you can get it down to usable metal and mechanically it's good, it might be worth finding a local blue job if you can (shipping is expensive). A decent pair of Victory grips should set you back another $30 to $40. If you can get it refinished and gripped for $200, that would be well worth it. The problem is the internals - if the lockwork is all rusted up, it might not be salvageable (or at least, cost effectively).

Thanks again, what do you mean by lock work, everything inside seemed to be fine, no rust on the springs and parts inside. the cylinder cycles perfectly, and spins freely when not engaged. The trigger has no issues, firing pin works fine, the only problem I see is some rust in the barrel, but I took a copper brush to it today and you can see the rifling pretty good, it still needs some cleaning though. I soaked it in WD40 for about a year ( I didnt really have time for it ), but I took it out today and tried to clean it. About the grips, do you know where I can find some, and will they be original, I've seen some at gun shows, but they're only plastic ones.

Surviiivor1 - do you have pics? That helps alot. Else, bbl length (full length), frame size (or at least number of rounds), writing on bbl., lots and lots of details. S&W re-used lots of S/N's, so a number isnt' usually enough. With a number that high, it's probably a .32 Hand Ejector, but I'm guessing.

Warriorsoul - Lock work, yeah, the internals. I'd stick it back in diesel or kerosene for a few days - it will do a lot more dissolving than WD-40. If you go to the smith-wessonforum.com, go to the 1945 and up forum, and read the FAQs. There will be a bunch of info there about parts diagrams, how to disassemble correctly, etc. Grips you can get in the classifieds there, sometimes on ebay, sometimes at gun shows. Any "K" frame grip will fit, but a correct pair is smooth walnut, and a tell-tale s/n stamped in the right panel inside. A good pair run about $40 for correct ones (e.g, war time made ones in very good condition). I have some if you are interested you can email or pm me, but I'm not here to sell stuff, just help out. The grips on yours may have been original, they look like pre-war commercial S&W grips - which were used on some early british contract guns. They may have been used on some "V" guns, i'm not sure exactly when they quit and started with the smooth walnut ones. In that case, the correct ones are checkered with a diamond around the screw hole, silver medallion set in the top 1/2 circle like on yours. Those go for much more - I think I sold a pair of those in "good," not excellent, condition a month or two ago for like $80. Yours look too far gone to save, but it might be worth saving the medallions in the grips.

Had a friend keeping his eye open for an older "pre lock" J-frame. I've always like the bodygaurd types so this was a good find. Of course it always happens when you're broke though... :crying: Oh well bought it anyway. Gave it a good detail cleaning and looks pretty good.

Serial # is 804Jxx anyone know date of manufacture or what it may be worth? I paid about $375 (had to work a trade).

Last edited by MStarmer; June 7, 2008 at 03:27 PM.
Reason: Added Pics!

kamerer - The revolver carries 6 rounds. The entire length of the gun is only 6" with a barrel length of about 1.25", end of barrel to cylinder is 2". Serial #617XXX.
Left side of the barrel says Smith & Wesson
Right side 32 S. & W. Long.
Right side between trigger and cylinder says:
MADE IN U.S.A
MARCAS REGISTRADAS
SMITH & WESSON
SPRINGFIELD, MASS.

The handle is wood with a decorative diamond cut pattern in each side with a larger diamond where the handle is screwed together. The intertwined S&W trademark logo is also on each side of the handle above the diamond cut pattern. It also does not have a safety.

Mstarmer and Surviiivor1 - holy crap! two really nice guns at the same time! Bodyguards aren't my thing, nor are .32's - but both of these are interesting so I will get my reference and check it out (reference = SCSW 3rd, plus some personal knowledge). Damn, that is a gorgeous Bodyguard!!!! I can tell you now, you did darn well for $375, don't wait for verification. It has been re-blued, and opened, I can tell that from your photos, but it's still nice looking and a great pocket pistol for that price.

It appeared to have been opened previously so I did a good detail clean and opened it myself. The marks were already there, so I figured it needed to be cleaned and lubed. This thing was very dusty/linty looking like it had sat in a drawer for 20yrs.

The rollmark on the left has been sanded down some, and the bluing looks a little too thick for factory. It's just an educated guess, not a certainty. Nice pocket piece - I prefer older ones to the new "j magnum" framed ones with the modern touches (cnc cylinder stop, lock, etc). I think Creature thinks so, too, based on the last post.

I will try to look into the 41 and the .32 hand Ejector later tonight if someone doesn't do it first.

I'm not sure if it's been re-blued or not. One of my co-workers runs a table at all the local shows and picked it up awhile ago. Dont have any real history, but with the amount of dust and crud that was built up I would say it did a whole lot of sitting.

I like the grips but wish they were flush with the bottom of the frame, I like the flush style better.

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